Shore Leave Cafe Books In Order

Publication Order of Shore Leave Cafe Books

An American author hailing from Minnesota, the novelist Abbie Williams is largely known for her unique brand of cozy mystery novels, along with her romance and historical fiction titles. Working independently through her own small press called Central Avenue, she has managed to make a name for herself over the years throughout the industry. Setting herself apart from other writers, she has managed to establish a unique style and tone that is just as much about character as it is the plot. Drawing large amounts of inspiration from Larry McMurty, she has striven to create a voice that is all her own. Writing about relationships and individuals finding their place in the world, she manages to draw a lot of inspiration from her own life. This has allowed her work to find an audience worldwide, with readers from all across the globe relating to her novels. Using a lot of the locations from her own life growing up, she also manages to bring the environments to life, as well as her characters. Dealing with love and loss, she tackles grand themes, but in an intimate manner that doesn’t alienate the reader, building a more personal rapport with her audience. The Shore Leave Cafe series is a perfect example of this, as it manages to show what Abbie Williams is really all about as an author of contemporary fiction. A romance series, it really manages to draw and build upon the best that the genre has to offer, using many of the tropes, whilst also finding its own voice at the same time. Following a single family of women, it charts their romantic love lives, as they deal with the trials and tribulations of modern romance. Set in Landon, Minnesota, it starts out with Joelle Gordon heading back to her childhood home from Chicago to make a new life for herself. This has subsequently been built upon over the course of its entire run, as it brings the local community to life, along with its colorful cast of characters.

With the first book being published in 2012, it would begin with the title ‘Summer at the Shore Leave Cafe’, which would set-up all the characters overall. So far releasing nine books in the series, along with an omnibus edition of the first three, it’s come a long way since then. Creating an ever expansive world that continues to grow with each and every novel, it is for this world that its many readers have come to appreciate it. As more books are expected in the future, this series will continue to grow for quite some time yet, as there is plenty of potential left in it still.

Summer at the Shore Leave Cafe

Originally brought out through the Everheart Books publishing imprint, this would mark the first title in the ongoing Shore Leave Cafe series. Setting up the series as a whole, it would establish not only the world that it’s set within, but many of the characters too. Released on the 17th of December in 2012, it would mark an exciting new instalment in Williams’ career as a writer of modern romance.

Taking ideas of looking into the past and where destinies lie, this is a contemporary romance novel with a realistic outlook that extends beyond its pages. Giving the characters a real feeling of human warmth and life, it manages to capture who they truly are as people. Not only that, but the location of Minnesota comes to life too, as the Shore Leave Cafe becomes a character in of itself almost.

Leaving behind the city of Chicago and her cheating husband, Joelle Gordon heads off to the the town of Landon in Minnesota with her three daughters. Faced with the prospect of facing her past in Landon, Gordon returns to her family run cafe the ‘Shore Leave Cafe’ there, where she is met with all manner of memories. It is here that she must contend with the past whilst looking to the future, whilst also considering returning to her husband for the benefit of her daughters. The cafe holds plenty of secrets and surprises of its own though, and soon they’ll reveal themselves to her over time. Will she be able to face the past? Can she look to the future? What will become of her summer at the Shore Leave Cafe?

Second Chances

Published through the Everheart publishing house once again, this book was set to carry on from where the last left off. Providing more of what the readers had now come to expect from the series, it would also manage to offer many of its own twists and turns along the way. Brought out on the 26th of July in 2013 it would be released not long after the first, showing a clear sense of development from the original title.

Having now fully escaped her old life in Chicago, along with her cheating husband, Joelle Gordon must now make a new life for herself in Landon. Dealing with the past, she has a lot to cope with here, as the past comes rushing back to her, all whilst looking after her three young daughters. Not only that, but she has now found herself in a new romance with the ever handsome Blythe Tilson, as she strives to make sense of it all. That’s when Jackson comes back, leaving Joelle to make one of the most important decisions that she’s ever had to make in life. Will she go back? How will she choose, and where will her journey take her? Does she believe in giving second chances?

The Shore Leave Cafe Series

Dealing with the trials and tribulations of modern contemporary romance in a clear and concise manner, this is a highly effective series. Looking into the more realistic aspects of relationships, it manages to convey them in an entertaining manner that resonates with the reader. Getting into the minds of each and every one of her characters, she really works at developing them and their world-view as a whole. Both fans of the genre and the author will find this enjoyable, whilst it also provides something for the newcomer as well. With the series being so open ended there’s plenty of room to continue expanding upon it indefinitely, so this is definitely one to watch in the years to follow.